In Their Own Words – Lieutenant Commander Harry W. Harrison

“He is very cool, calm, level headed and steady.” These words, written in 1936 by a flight instructor at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, Florida, characterized Aviation Cadet Harry W. Harrison. In 1943-1944, he had to rely on each of these attributes as he led men into combat. Harrison’s wartime diary, in which he documented service in Fighting Squadron (VF) 5 and command of VF-6, captures the excitement of air combat in the first campaigns of the Central Pacific offensive as well as the experience of enduring enemy air attacks at sea.